Regrets
by NimbusSeeker70
Summary: Orion Black reflects on Sirius leaving. Written for round 8 of the Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition.


**A/N: Written for round 8 of the Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition. I needed to write about Orion Black, Sirius' father, so here it goes. Don't judge people, I wrote this in 15 minutes...**

**Team: Tutshill Tornadoes**

**Position: Captain**

**Prompts: Write about Orion Black.**

Orion Black had been upset many times throughout his life. He'd been devastated when Sirius was sorted into Gryffindor instead of Slytherin. He'd been horrified when he found out that he was friends with James Potter, and he'd been even more ashamed to learn that he was also friends with one of the most pathetic children in all of Hogwarts, that Peter Pettigrew boy.

But nothing had made him more upset than the day that Sirius Orion Black, named after Orion himself, decided to run away from home. It was something that none of the Blacks had ever imagined. Everybody had always assumed that Sirius would always be there to make a ruckus, drive his parents crazy, and yell at his little brother for being so selfish. That was simply the way life in the Black house went.

For years, Orion had been dealing with the rebellious boy, trying as hard as he could to get the Gryffindor to become more like the pure-blood he was.

"Sirius," he would say. "What is it going to take to make you understand? You can't be friends with mudbloods like that Lily Evans girl, no matter how much James likes her! He's practically a blood traitor himself! How could you associate yourself with such people?"

Sirius would reply angrily with something along the lines of, "You people are all pathetic! You spend all of your time worrying about making sure we follow the 'pureblood rules,' but in reality, there aren't actually any rules in the first place! It's just this thing you've all created in your heads! If you can show me in one place where it says that Blacks must hate all who are blood traitors or mudbloods, I'd be happy to see it!"

Orion and his eldest son got into these types of arguments at least once a week, but they were nothing compared to the arguments Sirius would have with his mother. Those would shake the very foundation of Grimmauld Place so much that Orion was often surprised they hadn't been discovered by the neighbors yet. Most of those arguments ended with Sirius daring his mother to haunt him for the rest of his life once she died, and she vowed that she would stick around to annoy him yet.

Orion wasn't quite sure whether that was the greatest idea or not, but his wife, Walburga, was already having the portrait of herself painted, and had already hired someone to perform the permanent sticking charm on the wall. It would seem that she really was serious.

Ever since Sirius had become the rebel he was, part of Orion had wanted him to simply go away. As a matter of fact, if someone had told Orion just a week ago that on this Wednesday, Sirius would be gone, off to live with the Potters never to return, Orion may have rejoiced, but now the quiet of the house was starting to disturb him.

Sirius may have been a pain, but he was still their son. Even Walburga seemed upset about the disappearance of her son. Both of them had only wanted the best for him, something that Sirius never seemed to understand.

"Why couldn't he have been more like Bella and Narcissa?" Walburga whined one day. "They're such lovely girls."

Now, instead of arguing constantly with Sirius, she spent most of her days holed up in her room, not allowing a soul to come in. Regulus was at a friend's house in Scotland, and even Kreatcher seemed to be constantly gone, nearly always at his mistress's side, and never paying much attention to Orion.

Suddenly, the aging man realized what a lonely and quiet existence it was without Sirius in the house. It was just too bloody quiet.

On a whim, Orion went upstairs into his study. He closed the door and pulled a piece of parchment and a quill out of the drawer. Uncapping the ink bottle, he started to write a note.

_Dear Sirius,_

_I know that you are angry with us, and I'm sure you're aware that we are all very disappointed in you, but as your father, I would like to tell you how incredibly awful it is without you in the house. I can't even remember the last time it was this infuriatingly quiet. In a way, it's almost worse than all of that incessant arguing._

He paused for a moment, contemplating what to write next.

_I hope that you will consider coming home. We really would love to have you._

_Sincerely,_

_Your father_

* * *

Two years later, as Orion lay on his death bed, he regretted never sending that letter, because as he lay dying, he realized one terrible truth.

He would never see his son again.


End file.
